"What can I say... you're welcome."
1,168 words
This first thing Shyshie knew was the hard ground pressing against her face, the earth filling up her nose and threatening to suffocate her.
The second thing she knew was the blazing pain as it ripped through her when she tried to lift her head. Her muscles locked and spasmed as she tried to bear the fiery black sensation without screaming.
It was almost too much but just when she thought her teeth would shatter in her mouth from being gritted so tightly, the pain began to ease away until it left her spent and panting, still prone on the ground.
She lay still, simply grateful that her frantic, foolish attempt had succeeded. Distantly she could hear the sea.
But closer, there was another rhythmic sound that was not quite so soothing. Rougher and raggeder, someone was breathing close beside her.
Slowly, against the exhaustion that had set in after the pain, she turned her head, eyes slitting open as she tried to catch a glimpse of the stranger.
Their silhouette was crouched close above her and blank eyes stared down at her, meeting her gaze as she turned but never blinking.
Swallowing against a dry throat, Shyshie slowly leveraged herself upright as her entire body protested, until she was panting for air on her knees. The dark figure never moved.
"Who..." Shyshie croaked, her voice catching in her throat as she tried to speak "Who are you?"
There was no answer, just the continued labored breathing.
With a grunt the young cat struggled to her feet and stepped away, her eyes scanning the landscape. She wasn't where she had collapsed, but had been moved away from the flat shore to the shelter of a few small sad dunes, presumably by the staring stranger.
"Who are you?" she tried again and this time received an answer, not from the stranger them self, but from behind.
"Why Starwalk!" Ossi Pri's voice rang out, startlingly loud in the previous still "For shame! Don't you recognize your own mother?"
Shyshie froze, heart pulsing its way up to her throat as the stranger lifted her head and recognition struck Shyshie like a thunderbolt.
"No," the denial shuddered out of her and she spun to stare at the Ocean Princess "This is another one of your dreams, my mother is dead, I saw it."
"Oh, but did you really?" Ossi Pri has a smile that was sickly sweet "Remember dear old Horeth? Never could find him afterwards hm?"
"What are you talking about?" Shyshie hissed, her ears flattening back and anger pushing through her tired body.
"Sweet old soul didn't realize you had gotten off the ship and went down to try to help. He didn't find you of course, but your mother wasn't quite as gone as you had thought."
Shyshie was shivering as though her veins had ice water in them instead of blood, the Ocean Princess either did not take notice or care.
"Almost drowned and almost bled out entirely, Horeth did the only thing he could think of. Dear fool, its been so long not even he remembered."
Shyshie waited for her to finish, but the drawn out expectancy in the white cat prompted her to ask "What? What is it?"
"Tch what a sharp tone," Ossi flicked wrist as if to dismiss Shyshie's attitude "But there were more reasons that the selkies separated themselves from the society at large than the recorded ones. A selkie's song can heal the body and sooth a soul, but its a potent thing, like too much wine it dims the mind, drains the reason from a person. In a wound that ought to have been fatal a song can heal the body but it breaks the mind, as such what happened to her."
Shyshie forced herself to tear her gaze from the Princess to the broken thing that had to, just had to be a part of her imagination, a figment of a fever dream.
"I can't bring back the dead, but I can bring back your mother," the dust danced as Ossi's feet appeared to touch the ground "I can restore her mind."
"This is a trick," Shyshie pivoted, planting fists on her hips and swallowing hard "You're inside my head again. Or I've just made this all up myself."
"Are you going to risk that?" Ossi asked with laughter in her voice and lightening in her eyes, she stretched out a hand ran her fingers against the ragged, dirty fur of Darkmoon's face "You can say no and you can walk away and you will keep walking and walking. Today becomes tomorrow becomes the day after until you realize this isn't a dream and you aren't going to wake up and you will live with this," she gestured to the whole of the ragged creature before her and it didn't so much as flinch "Though on the bright side I suppose it wouldn't be so bad. Look at her! She's nowhere nearly as worried as she was before, you always did wish she was a little more laid back didn't you?"
"This is a dream, you couldn't know that, there's no way you could know that about me," Shyshie felt a well of things she didn't want to face press up inside of her chest and she resisted the urge to lunge at Ossi and sink her claws into the misty form.
Ossi shook her head "You underestimate me Starwalk and it stings, it really does. Ah well, it's almost dawn, your aunts will find you soon," she turned and began to fade as gray light crept over the horizon "You know I really do think I like my mortals more like her, all hollow and empty, it really is beautiful, like a seashell!"
Shyshie reached out and plucked at a ragged sleeve as the world began to turn golden.
The only reaction she managed to draw from the blank creature was a slight tilt of her head.
Shyshie stared hard into the set of yellow eyes, a far paler color than she remembered. As the sun rose and the rays reached across her back, warming her, Shyshie realized she was wrong.
"Wait!"
She spun, arms reaching out, hands grasping at the nothing "Princess! Wait! Come back!"
The Ocean Princess stopped and glanced over her shoulder with a knowing look.
"I'll do it," Shyshie swallowed against the bitterness of the words on her tongue and dug her hand into her pocket "I'll do it."
She withdrew the the silver knife the Princess had given her and held her hands out in front of her. slowly pressing the cold edge against her palm "I'll do it. Just, please, bring her back."
"Well go on then, I have forever but you don't," Ossi gestured impatiently "Prove your conviction and I'll give you what you wish."
Shyshie pulled several rapid breathes and then slid the harsh tip through her skin.
The Ocean Princess smiled as the first drop of blood hit the ground.